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Thylacocephala

      The Thylacocephala (from the Greek thylakos, meaning "pouch", and cephalon meaning "head") are a unique group of extinct arthropods, with possible crustacean affinities. As a class they have a short research history, having been erected in the early 1980s.[1][2][3] They typically possess a large, laterally flattened carapace that encompasses the entire body. The compound eyes tend to be large and bulbous, and occupy a frontal notch on the carapace. They possess three pairs of large raptorial limbs, and the abdomen bears a battery of small swimming limbs. The earliest thylacocephalan fossil is thought to date from the lower Cambrian,[4] while the class has a definite presence in Lower Silurian marine communities.[5] As a group, the Thylacocephala survived to the Upper Cretaceous.[6] Beyond this, there remains much uncertainty concerning fundamental aspects of the thylacocephalan anatomy, mode of life, and relationship to the Crustacea, with whom they have always been cautiously aligned.
<I>Clausocaris lithographica</I> - a Jurrassic representative of Thylacocephala
Clausocaris lithographica - a Jurrassic representative of Thylacocephala
An enigmatic animal <I>Ainiktozoon loganense</I> probably also belongs to the Thylacocephala
An enigmatic animal Ainiktozoon loganense probably also belongs to the Thylacocephala
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR132
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR135
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR136
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR137
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR298
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR309
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR310
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR311
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR313
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR314
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR319
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR320
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR322
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR128
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR282
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR283
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR285
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR343
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR344
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR345

Virtual museum of the Czech Geological Survey, www.geology.cz, (C) Czech Geological Survey, 2011, v.0.99 [13.12.2011]